BROCKTON – It may have taken years, but Melissa Almeida finally got the dream wedding she had always wanted. Despite complications from Lupus, a disease she has struggled with for decades, she walked down the aisle to marry – once again – her best friend, Ryan, during an April ceremony she said was “meaningful.”

“It felt like a true wedding this time,” said the mother of four who first tied the knot 18 years ago. “The first time around, it was a Justice of the Peace, who we had never met. It was not really meaningful.”

The couple had been down this road once before, they said.

They were 19 when they first married in an impromptu ceremony on Sept. 21, 1996, she said. She wore a “simple, Easter dress” from JC Penney, and the couple exchanged vows in front of 50 guests in her aunt’s cramped backyard, she said.

Almeida went on to give birth to Ryan Jr., now a 16-year-old freshman at Brockton High School born with autism, and Rachel, 15, who is now a sophomore at Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School.

But the pair had separated for four years after Ryan Almeida’s bout with substance abuse strained the relationship, she said. They divorced soon after, they said. Nine months later, the couple reconciled, but hadn’t yet remarried, Almeida said.

During that time, Kayleigh, 7, now a Kennedy School student, was born, followed by their last child, Jayden, now a 4-year-old preschooler.

For nearly 20 years, Melissa Almeida has battled lupus, a disease that leads to chronic inflammation. Daily tasks for her, like loading the dishwasher or walking up a flight of stairs, become arduous tasks that can end up leaving her in a whirlwind of pain and confined to a bed, said the mother of four.

Despite experiencing chronic illnesses since she was 12, her health most recently took a severe dip. In December 2012, her right eye became so inflamed that doctors said she almost lost it. Then several flare-ups and symptoms from her rheumatoid arthritis kept her in and out of the hospital, she said.

It all came to a head when her lung collapsed last December, which resulted in a month-long hospital stay, she said.

Ryan, her husband, rarely left her side other than to take care of their four children, she said. That meant he went weeks without work or pay as a self-employed construction worker, she said. The day she was released from the hospital in January, he wanted to re-marry in City Hall, but she declined.

This time, she said, she wanted the fairytale wedding.

Their four children served as attendants. A family pastor presided over their ceremony, which was attended by about 200 loved ones inside the Bridgewater Vets Club. She wore a waist-length veil and a cap sleeve, bell-shaped gown. Her bouquet was an assortment of hues of blue and cream.

Page 2 of 2 - Despite money troubles – the family mainly subsisted on disability payments – the couple pulled off the semi-formal affair with financial contributions mainly from Melissa Almeida’s mother as well as from generous donations, she said.

Their three-tiered wedding cake was donated by Lisa’s Sweet Tooth, in Brockton, while the bride’s hair and makeup was done for free. Disc jockey and photography services were provided at a discount and a friend made the wedding favors, she said. Relatives also pitched in by helping her prepare and cook the food for the wedding reception.

“Everything was beautiful. She was ecstatic so that made me happy,” said the groom.

“She deserved every bit of it, without a doubt, not just because of all she has gone through, but because of who she is.

Though most of the day went off without a hitch, their struggles continue, they said.

The day after the wedding, she was rushed to see a doctor due to issues with her blood pressure. Ryan Almeida, the sole income provider, struggles to catch up on bills. Plans to go on a “real honeymoon” have to be put on hold, she said.

“We’ve already been through it all – richer and poorer, through sickness and health and good and bad times,” she said.

“It’s been 18 years and we’ve had all of those of things and I don’t think there’s anything we can’t get through.”